Broadland Housing Association

Homes, community & support since 1963

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    Work starts on 18 new family homes at Great Hockham, Norfolk

    • Jonathan Smith, of Smiths of Honingham, with Broadland Housing Association Chief Executive Michael Newey
    Left: David Childerhouse (Parish Cllr), Andrew Savage (Executive Development Director), Ben Campbell (Parish Cllr), Tom Bennett (Parish Cllr), Cllr Philip Cowen (Breckland), Michael Newey (Chief Executive, Broadland Housing Association). Right: Jonathan Smith, of Smiths of Honingham, with Michael Newey,

    Broadland Housing has started work on 18 new family homes in Great Hockham. The scheme will include 8 affordable rent homes, prioritised for people with a local connection who are in housing need. There will also be 2 homes for shared ownership and 8 new open market homes. 

    Councillor Philip Cowen of Breckland Council and representatives from Great Hockham Parish Council, which has supported the project, were joined by Broadland staff and contractors at the sod-turning ceremony.

    The £4.2 million project on Wretham Road in the village is due to be completed in February 2023.

    We are delighted to be here in Great Hockham celebrating the start of construction of 18 much-needed new homes.

    We are meeting a genuine need for housing in rural village communities, which will enable local people to find homes in those communities and thus stay close to their support networks and places of employment, and make villages such as Great Hockham more sustainable.

    This kind  of mixed-tenure development, with a blend of affordable homes and open-market homes, is increasingly the way forward, both because it makes such schemes financially viable, but also because it encourages a better integration within the community.

    Michael Newey, Chief Executive of Broadland Housing, speaking at the ceremony

    Rural communities in Breckland desperately need new housing. 

    Our own housing needs survey showed that providing new homes, including affordable homes, in Great Hockham will help the village become a community hub for the surrounding villages.  This is an ‘exceptions site’ outside the current village boundaries, and as such the affordable homes will be prioritised for those with a local connection, which is important.

    The way Broadland Housing has brought this project forward has been refreshing.  They brought a real level of expertise in building local communities, they communicated and listened to local people, and they have been great to work with.”

    Councillor Cowen, portfolio holder for finance, revenues and benefits / local ward councillor for Great Hockham

    The 18 new homes have been designed by architects Ingleton Wood, and are being constructed by contractor Smiths of Honingham.  We are grateful to Mr Trappes-Lomax, the Hockham Estate owner, for insisting on a project which will supply much needed affordable housing in the village.

    We are delighted to once again be Broadland’s partner in bringing to life these new homes”

    Jonathan Smith, Director, Smiths of Honingham

    AGM 2021 – Broadland Housing focused on ‘enduring purpose’ of providing good quality, affordable homes

    AGM 2021 – Broadland Housing focused on ‘enduring purpose’ of providing good quality, affordable homes

    Broadland Housing held its Annual General Meeting in September. Michael Newey, Chief Executive (pictured), said that the key challenges in 2020-21 had been to keep people safe, keep homes decent and meet tenants’ expectations. He described how Broadland had ‘gone the extra mile’ to meet these challenges.

    Michael Newey, Chief Executive of Broadland Housing Association, addresses the 2021 AGM

    Providing new homes

    Despite the pandemic, during 2020-21 Broadland Housing delivered:

    • a total of 147 new homes (against a target of 72), of which
    • 92 were affordable rent
    • 33 were for shared ownership

    During the year Broadland also allocated:

    • a total of 348 homes, of which
    • 117 were to homeless households
    • 111 to older people.

    Keeping tenants safe

    The pandemic has been the most significant event of my life, and the same is true for most of us. Life has changed, and we have all faced significant challenges.  I am really proud of how we transitioned almost overnight to meet those challenges and continue to meet our objectives.

    Our ambitions remain the same, but the world has changed. We have had to adapt the way we do things.  Our number one priority has been keeping people safe, and that has sometimes meant that we haven’t been able to do everything that we wanted to do. 

    Supporting people has never been more important, whether through befriending calls with people who have been isolated in their homes, or dealing with urgent issues such as emergency repairs.”

    Michael Newey, Chief Executive

    Working towards net carbon zero

    As Broadland emerges from the pandemic, it faces the continuing challenges of responding to climate change and tackling homelessness, and a renewed focus on local delivery all priorities, along with continuing to provide more new homes.

    Climate change will in the long term be a bigger issue than Covid. The issue is how we can deliver the 2050 net carbon zero target without pushing people into fuel poverty? One piece of research has estimated that meeting that target will cost an average of nearly £21,000 per affordable home, so the financial impact is enormous.

    Tackling homelessness has been a long-term priority for us.  The pandemic inspired a renewed sense of joined-up thinking and partnership working, and we have played a role in both the Norfolk Strategic Housing Partnership and the Norfolk Homelessness Forum.  We have also worked with King’s Lynn, Norwich and Great Yarmouth to provide ‘housing first’ accommodation, move-on accommodation and homes for prison leavers.

    Michael Newey, Chief Executive

    First hybrid AGM

    Thanking tenants, staff and stakeholders for their support over the year, Michael Newey said:

    There is no doubt that the pandemic will continue to have a substantial impact on our operations during the coming year. However, our commitment to delivering our enduring purpose, namely helping people who cannot afford decent places to live in the open market access good quality affordable homes, remains as strong as ever.

    The AGM was Broadland’s first hybrid meeting. To observe Covid-19 safety guidance, a limited number of people attended in person, while the remainder joined virtually.

    Download a copy of the 2020-21 Annual Report.

    Edgefield residents share feedback on their new homes with architects and designers

    We recently invited residents at our Edgefield development to meet the architects and designers who created their new homes. It was an opportunity for them to give feedback to improve future developments.

    The mixed-tenure scheme at Edgefield, Norfolk, is on the north side of the village. It contains 12 affordable homes and 10 open-market homes.

    Resident feedback will shape future developments

    At the evening event, residents enjoyed pizza on the open green space which forms part of the Edgefield scheme. They talked directly to the architects, designers, specifiers and project managers who were responsible for their new homes. The residents’ valuable insight will feed into future Broadland projects.

    We weren’t able to hold a traditional launch event for this site due to the Covid pandemic. So a few months on, we decided instead to take advantage of the fact that people have been living in their new homes for a while to gain some feedback about how the on-paper designs have translated into their real-life experience.

    It was a hugely useful exercise, as well as bringing the new community together socially.  This kind of mixed-tenure scheme is increasingly how we are able to deliver affordable homes, especially in rural locations such as north Norfolk

    Executive Development Director Andrew Savage (pictured centre)

    Mixed-tenure scheme

    Nine of the new homes at Edgefield are affordable rent properties for local people. A further 3 are shared-ownership homes.  The remaining 10 homes were sold on the open market to help fund Broadland’s programme of building social housing in the Norfolk and north Suffolk

    Thanks, Good Neighbours!

    Congratulations to all our tenants and their neighbours who won a Good Neighbour Award recently. We’d like to say a big thank you for helping those around you through the challenges of the recent months!

    The April winners included:

    • Elizabeth and Stephen “for helping their neighbours throughout the lockdown” (from Tamara)
    • Jill “for consistently checking in with her neighbours, leaving little gifts and thoughtful texts. Most importantly, her support is kind and non-intrusive” (from Liz)
    • Janine and Kay “for being so welcoming when I first moved in. Looking after my dog while I was at work. Lending bits and pieces and being there when I needed a chat” (from Andrea)
    • Jean “for helping her neighbour who is on her own after recent knee surgery” (from Mary)
    • Rachel “for always going over and above to provide offers of support. She always thinks of others and asks how we are and is the best neighbour ever. She thoroughly deserves some recognition for being kind, caring and supportive” (from Siobhan)
    Broadland Housing tenants - winners of Good Neighbour Awards April 2021

    Broadland Housing tenants can nominate a neighbour at any time for an award. All the winners receive a £25 shopping voucher, personal certificate and are featured in our Door to Door tenant magazine.

    To find out more, see our Good Neighbour Awards page.

    Broadland helps build new community sports facilities

    We have completed an exciting partnership project with Lovell, Ingleton Wood and other local companies that will provide much-needed respite accommodation at Norwich City Community Sports Foundation (CSF)’s hub ‘The Nest’.

    Watch a ‘before and after’ video of the refurbishment:

    The project involved renovating a dilapidated cottage at The Nest site in Norwich. Adults accompanying young people’s residential trips will now have somewhere to stay.

    CSF runs a range of programmes that use sport, education and the pull of Norwich City Football Club to engage with different groups in the community. The cottage project was part of its #BuildTheNest fundraising campaign to complete the second phase of development works at The Nest.

    Broadland staff used their volunteer days to do the work (and some staff members donated additional time0.

    Broadland’s Development Director, Andrew Savage, says:

    To see the enthusiasm of all the volunteers and the generous donations was inspiring. Our internal maintenance, planned works and landscape teams who were involved with the project are extremely proud of what has been achieved. It was great to be involved.

    Simon Medlar, Lovell Regional Managing Director for East Anglia, said:

    I’d like to personally thank each supplier and subcontractor involved for their hard work and commitment throughout. I’ve been blown away by the generosity of those involved, donating both materials and time, which has led to the fantastic end-result of this renovation.

    Ian Thornton, Chief Executive Officer at Norwich City Community Sports Foundation, said:

    We are incredibly grateful for the support of Lovell and all the suppliers and subcontractors that have come together to make the cottage look so fresh and new.

    It will be such an asset to the site to have these facilities for adults supporting residential visits, and we look forward to welcoming residential groups back to The Nest when conditions allow for it.

    More than 40 local companies as well as those further afield were involved in the refurbishment, which is worth over £50,000. This included remodelling the internal layout and substantial works to fix leaks, stabilise the structure, treat damp and woodworm, and remove asbestos, as well as a complete re-fit, and both internal and external redecorations. The main work was completed in late February 2020, with final touches being finished following lockdown and in accordance with Lovell’s strict COVID secure guidelines for its workplaces and construction sites.

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